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JENSEN: A Worthy Victory
So congratulations to Greg Biffle, Greg Erwin and the entire 16 team for their perseverance and finally getting the victory...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted August 02, 2010   Charlotte, NC
Greg Biffle performs a burnout after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway. (Photo: Getty Images)
At its best, auto racing is about a lot more than cars going around in a circle. It’s about people, it’s about human drama and it’s about special moments that transcend mere competition.

By now, we’ve seen the photos or videos of a battered and bloody Jack Roush emerging from his destroyed aircraft last Tuesday in Oshkosh, Wis., where he survived a crash landing.

Roush is still hospitalized at the Mayo Clinic, having already undergone several rounds of surgery with an uncertain prognosis for his return to the racetrack. Sunday, the scrappy 68-year-old team owner got the best medicine he could have received when Greg Biffle ran away in the closing laps to win the Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway.

It was the first victory for Biffle in nearly two years and the first for both Roush Fenway Racing and Ford Motor Co. since Talladega last fall. One can only imagine just how emotional the phone call Biffle and Roush shared after the race was.

And while Biffle said he never lost confidence in himself during his 64-race losing streak, crew chief Greg Erwin put in perspective how much the victory meant to the crew of the No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford.

“Just picture yourself working 60, 70, 100 hours a week, right, 40, 50 weeks out of the year, coming up short, watching these guys kick your butt every week, basking in the glory,” said Erwin on Sunday night. “Being able to walk in front of those guys at six o’clock every Monday morning, look 'em in the eye, tell 'em, ‘We'll get them next week.’ That's what you've got to do. ... It's going to be a lot easier tomorrow morning to stand in front of them, I can tell you that. Big momentum boost. Perfect time of the season.”
Jack Roush get well decal on Greg Biffle's Ford Fusion. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

So congratulations to Biffle, Erwin and the entire 16 team for their perseverance and finally getting the victory. And to Jack Roush, best of luck for a speedy and full recovery. As the decals on your cars read this weekend, “Get back to the track, Jack!”

Some other thoughts about the Pocono race:

• After never getting within hailing distance of a victory in the first half of the season, suddenly the Roush Fenway Racing Fords are hot, with Edwards having finished second at Chicagoland, Biffle third at the Brickyard and Biffle winning in Pocono, with Edwards finishing third. The combination of the new Ford FR9 engine and some suspension ideas borrowed from Richard Petty Motorsports have transformed Biffle an Edwards from also-rans to contenders.

If the Fords truly are in the championship mix along with the Chevys of Hendrick and Childress and the Toyotas of Joe Gibbs, we could be in for an exciting championship battle.


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